Happy Greaster!!!

That's Happy Greek Easter to most normal people. Rachel has developed the penchant of combining words so that's one of her latest. Today is Easter Sunday and we've had a pretty lazy day so far - easy to do given the ridiculous weather. Strong winds, rain.....not what I was expecting of the Greek islands I have to say. But then I'm not sure what I was expecting really, it was just a nice idea to come here. It certainly looks like the postcard images here when the sun peeks out - all whitewashed walls and cobalt blue shutters, with little church domes popping up everywhere.

So, a quick update of what we've been up to since the last post. I have to admit that I'm still suffering from post-Turkey departure stress. It was so fantastic there - I can see why in the LP it said that people go there for a week or two and never leave. Anyway, on our last days in Istanbul we tried to finish off the list of must-sees which included a visit to the Blue Mosque (huge, but beautiful), Cathryn's first visit to the Grand Bazaar which naturally had to incorporate a carpet selling encounter and a cup of tea at the 'friendly insistence of the locals', a cruise on the Bosphorus so that we could admire the smog-tinged city from the water (cities on water always look so gorgeous, despite the pollution), a spate of souvenir shopping, mad postcard writing, a visit to Topkapi Palace (on the way there we ran into the dodgy American carpet guy from our first day in Istanbul, still using the same dodgy lines. Yeuch!!!) but sadly the miniature room was closed. However, the mosaic tiles adorning the harem were rather amazing. We also ate kofte at one of the established places on the tram road which felt a bit like eating at Turkish McDonalds ie all speed but no charm, and finished off our last evening in Istanbul by heading over the Galata Bridge so that Cathryn could admire the view from the tower while Rachel and I waved at her from one of the cafes lining the square below. Given that it was the last opportunity to try some of the Turkish delicacies, Rachel ordered the truly hideous yoghurt drink which is beloved by the locals. It seriously tasted like off runny salty yoghurt - clearly wrong! But then they also drink fermented carrot juice which was like drinking the vinegar in which you find pickled onions etc. And of course the yoghurt inspired dishes include yoghurt and rice soup (warm yoghurt....again, there's something not quite right with this.) Once Cathryn descended again we set off up the pedestrianised shopping street to Taksim Square, along with the rest of the city's population. We snapped a few pics of the tulip art installations in the square (tulips actually come from Turkey hence the stylised tulips found on the tile designs and in so many logos. The bloody dutch stole them!!!) and headed back, finding our way by fluke back to the Borek Boys from our first night. They even remembered us!!! And it seemed quite fitting to close our sojourn here with them. One last raki on the terrace and it was time to tackle the dreaded packing and sorting of gear ready for our departure the next day.

And so on to Greece, armed with Erkan's warnings to be careful of the 'bloody greeks'. We'll have to give him a report of our observations re the rivalry between the two countries although I have to say at this stage, Turkey is the runaway winner. The taxi ride to the airport summed up Turkish driving styles - speeding, but at least because there are no lanes marked on the roads, it's easy to swerve around obstacles whenever necessary. Our last encounter with Turkish people summed up our experiences here when the chatty passport checking guy seemed quite taken with the idea that Cathryn and I were sisters - so sweet! The Olympic Airlines flight left late but was uneventful, with really bored crew. I think we needed Douglas to jazz it up a bit with one of his 'okays!'.

Athens was better than I had expected - but then I wasn't really expecting much. The Parthenon dominates the skyline and our hotel was very convenient for exploring once we offloaded the bags etc. I have to say that the transfer guy was definitely in the sedate driving school - so strange after Turkey! Our fisrt stop was up to Parliament Square to watch the costumed soldiers change the guard. This involved stomping about with pompoms on their shoes which did look a bit ridiculous but at least we were amused. Then we set off down the pedestrianised shopping street for a bit of a look before discovering by chance that due to the fact that it was Greek Easter Good Friday, opening times for the Parthenon etc were restricted. A swift change of plans followed as we sprinted up the hill to check out the wrecks which are undeniably impressive, but so big and crumbly that the eternal restoration attempts must be quite disheartening. Susanne had sent me a text message earlier in the day warning me about footpaths rising up to the meet the skull, but in my case it was the slippery marble steps rising up to meet my behind instead. Lovely!!! By this stage it was getting late so we headed off to find some souvlaki for dinner, followed by an unidentifed liqueur starting with the letter m. Quite nice but strong, it's plant based and has a sugary aftertaste.

The next morning we set off for a closer look at the other wrecks in the vicinity, looking at agoras and temples, before a taxi transfer came to take us to Piraeus for the ferry to Mykonos. Here we discovered that our tickets entitled us to plastic garden chairs on the deck, where we could enjoy the full ferry experience ie buffeted by winds and spray. And it only took 5 hours to get there!!!! Nice!!! Finally our transfer to the hotel rounded out our journey - driven by a frustrated F1 driver down tiny twisting lanes, on his mobile phone, and then when we finally arrived he forgot to put on the handbrake so we started rolling back down the hill. Life flashed before our eyes - no wonder Greece has the worst road fatality rates in Europe! Dinner at 11 pm in the hotel's restaurant finished off our travelling day's adventures. I'm nearly out of internet time so I'll just have to fill in the details about Mykonos from Santorini. Ciao ciao!